BARRHEAD-Four Barrhead Blue Heron Support Services Association (BHSSA) disability support workers know first-hand the issues that low wages are causing for their industry.
The BHSSA is a not-for-profit organization that helps individuals with developmental, physical, sensory and brain injuries. The BHSSA also provides adult continuing education opportunities and programs to support caregivers of those who suffer from the above conditions, mostly by providing respite. Although the association offers programs in Whitecourt, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Grimshaw, High Prairie, Edson, Hinton, Jasper and Slave Lake, most of its work is in the Barrhead region.
Last week Des Hughes, disability services practitioners Des Hughes, Criss Schaffrick, Wendy Gray and team lead spoke to the Barrhead Leader about the challenges facing disability support services workers due to substandard financial compensation.
"We want to share our story about how people in our industry are undervalued, under-appreciated and underpaid," Hughes said.
According to a 2021 workplace survey by the Alberta Council of Disability Services (ACDS) survey, the average hourly wage for a disability support worker is $18.76. When supervisors and management are added the average hourly wage increases to $21.50.
"It is a little sad to admit," Hughes said. "But after more than 30 years in the field, I am a little above that."
The majority of the funding that organizations such as Blue Heron receive comes from government service contracts, which the group said, have not seen an increase in seven years.
To rectify this, the Alberta Disabilities Workers Association (ADWA) is lobbying the province to increase Alberta community disability support workers' wages by 25 per cent.
Hearn added that there is a perception that disability support workers are "nothing but glorified babysitters."
"There is a lot more to our jobs than a lot of people realize," she said.
Schaffrick agreed, saying disability support workers have a wide variety of responsibilities, including harm reduction and mental health concerns, dealing with issues arising from a client's specific disability.
"To care for people and promote independence, that is our mandate. To help people become independent and integrate them into the community," Hughes said.
However to be accredited to work as a disability service worker, Hearn said, they need several individual certifications which they must keep current.
Hughes added that even though the service they provide is essential, come budget time, there is talk about the importance of healthcare and education, but there is little to no discussion about the disability field.
"I think part of that is because we don't have any big unions behind us," she said.
Another reason why the group believes the pay scale for disability service workers pay scale is lower than that of many other industries is because of the level of education needed to enter the field.
Although they said disability support worker is a highly-skilled position, and workers need to have and maintain several certifications, there is little in the way of formal post-secondary diplomas or degrees.
Hughes said there was a time when colleges and universities offered an array of disability services programming.
However, by 2008 she said that most of those institutions had axed their programs due to low enrolment.
"It was a vicious circle," Hughes said. "Low enrolment was because they could not afford to go to college for the low wages they received, and one of the reasons why the wages were so low is that they did not have an education."
Currently, she believes there are only two post-secondary institutions in the province that offer such programming.
To help rectify the situation, the Alberta Council of Disability Services (ACDS) created the Foundations certification program.
The ADCS is an organization that represents community disability support service providers.
"(Foundations) is a basic course that disability workers within a year of working at Blue Heron need to have," Hughes said, noting it is taught on-site and takes from six to eight months to complete. "It is like the LPN program for the nursing field, but for disability workers."
Because of these problems and the low wages, the group said organizations like Blue Heron are hiring people with little to no experience in the field, and after they do get some experience, they use it to springboard to more lucrative opportunities.
Hughes said workers often move on to take similar positions with government agencies and seniors' homes.
Schaffrick interjected that she knows of workers who have decided to take jobs in the fast-food industry as the wages are similar, or in some cases higher, without the stress.
They said that due to the lack of staff and high turnover rate (estimated to be as high as 20 per cent) long-term, career disability support workers are starting to feel the impact, whether it is from trying to take up the slack or the need to take a second job to make ends meet.
"There will be a point when many of these people will decide to opt-out of the field, but it doesn't have to be this way," Hughes said. "Most of these issues could be fixed if we just received a decent, living wage. It would show workers that their work is appreciated and valued. It also might give people motivation to stay a little longer."
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
